At the dining table with Edna, Bran, and Daphne, I unraveled my scroll for my class list, and the four of us compared our courses like generals in the war room.

"Splendid! Looks like we'll have Elemental Magic 3 with the Aquasos and Arcane 2 with the Venomauses. Nice, we all get to spend our morning together!" Edna beamed.

"We also have Charms and Elixirs together in the afternoon. The fifth class of the day is where we split off, though, except Rollie and I have zoology together." Daphne smiled.

"That's wonderful," I blurted with too much excitement. They all stared at me, confused. "Uh, anything I should be aware of with any of the professors or...whatever?"

The three of them glanced at each other and collectively shrugged.

"If you know your famous mages, you'll definitely be familiar with Professor Kamara. Quite the celebrity. He was head of Englaria Mage Force two years ago but then came to Loxton to wrap up his career as a teacher for the foreseeable future. Brilliant man. His class last year was awesome and challenging but fascinating. He has done amazing work with some of the mages here. I think you'll really like him," Daphne said. "Although he makes you sit next to someone from the opposite mage ability. Last year I had to sit next to the Aquaso Dragonstryke captain, Layla Moors, blech."

"Oh boy. Here we go." Bran smirked at Daphne.

Clark came shuffling back toward me and handed me an envelope. "Hey, usually we give out letters in the mailbox in the common room, but since the first years don't really know that yet, we deliver any mail on the first day personally. It also helps me remember your name and who you are. Anyways, this letter is for you." After he handed me the letter, he returned to handing out schedules in scrolls to other students.

"This is weird. I wasn't really expecting anything." I untied the letter and opened it up.

"Who's it from?" Daphne asked.

"It's from my grandpa," I read it silently, hearing his soft, gentle voice.

Rollie,

I hope your first day at Loxton treats you well. Ever since you left the house, I can't stop worrying about you. Well, worry isn't the right word but, you know, I've been thinking about you a lot.

Now, I won't bother you too much during your time at Loxton. All I ask is to send me a letter once a week (if it's not troubling), just to let me know how you are and how things are going. Now that we are closer, I don't have to wait a while for a delivery from Attleton. Even if you find my consistent letters annoying, it's still pleasant to receive a reminder from a loved one that, yes, you are indeed loved. Don't forget, I once was your age too, you know.

Which brings me to another point. I know you got in trouble a lot back in Amerzia, and parents these days want to solve issues immediately, but sometimes you have to grow out of them. I was quite the instigator in my days, I won't lie. It seemed like every other day, I was in a snag with my behavior at your age, but look how I turned out! Living on a farm in a village after a successful Dragonstryke career. It's a beautiful, quiet life, and I know you can achieve it too.

Anyways, Zane (talk about troublemakers back in their day, ha!) is on his way. Do you remember Mr. Zane Thumblebatch? He came over for lunch briefly one afternoon, he was the rather stoic mage who didn't say too much. Well, we're going to have dinner tonight, and I have much to prepare. Have fun at Loxton, and don't forget about Dragonstryke tryouts! If you make the team, I'll be sure to come see you play. Good luck and much love.

Grandpa

Once breakfast wrapped up, we swarmed the hallways, heading back to our dorms to gather our textbooks and other class paraphernalia. We'd been so relaxed, lounging around the Dining Hall, that we almost forgot we had classes to attend. My first was Elemental Magic 3, and I managed to slide into my seat just as the bell rang. A few stragglers rushed in after the bell, earning disapproving glances from our professor. Professor Kamara was an imposing figure, striding back and forth at the front of the room with his tall stature, bald head, and broad shoulders. He had dark skin as well.

"Don't worry about tardiness. This always happens on the first day. Students are excited, and therefore time slips by seemingly faster. Not to mention getting adjusted back to school is a process itself." Professor Kamara looked up at the oak door just as the last kid snuck in.

"See? I told you he was a cool professor," Daphne whispered.

I was sitting next to Daphne in the back, and Bran and Edna sat in front of us. Professor Kamara took a moment to survey the students silently.

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"Welcome back, everyone, to your first official class of the school year. Now, if you've had my course before, you know that I like to mix up the seating a little bit. You'll spend all of your years getting to know the people in your age group quite well. What about the other mages? Not so much. So I'd like to take this time to divide the room. Let's get the Aquasos on one side and the Fyrons on the other."

Everyone slumped out of their seats and rolled their eyes. The Fyrons lined up on the right, the Aquasos on the left.

"Very good. Now I do this quite simply. I point to one person and then point to the next. Just how you've lined up now is how fate determined your seating." Professor Kamara nodded and pointed at the Fyron line and then at the front of the Aquasos line.

Professor Kamara floated his hand over to the first available desk, and so on and so forth. Until the whole class was sitting next to someone, they barely knew. None of the Fyrons looked thrilled to sit next to another Aquaso, but they didn't seem upset.

However, I had to sit next to Leon.

Both of us stared straight ahead, clenching our jaws.

"We will get into complex material this year," Professor Kamara said as he paced up and down the aisles of the desks. "Our bolts have all been refined, and we'll continue to refine them as we work on our elemental ball. We will dive into all of that, but first, we will look at land curses. This is significant because the Mage Force and myself believe that's what we're dealing with in the enchanted forest. But first, we're going to take a look at land curses. This is significant because the Mage Force and myself believe that's what we're dealing with in the Enchanted Forest. So please, open up your books. We're going to be jumping around through some of the chapters. Let's start with chapter five. I know this may seem irrelevant, but it's important because as a mage building their elemental ability, they must be aware of other factors and how to handle them using their magic."

I lifted my book from my bag and plopped it on the table, the rest of the class did the same. As I started to rifle through the pages, Leon dug through his satchel, which led to him glancing underneath our desk. He straightened his posture, took a deep breath, and stole a glimpse at my book.

"Is everything all right, Leon?" Professor Kamara asked.

"Uh yeah." He feigned a smile.

"Sorry, class, I didn't think it was asking too much to come prepared on the first day back. All of you received the list of materials, no?" Professor Kamara scanned, but no one said a word.

Picking my bag off the ground, I pulled out another copy of our book and slid it over to Leon. He gazed at me wide-eyed.

"Thank you," Leon whispered. "How come you have two books?"

"That's an older edition you have in your hands. My grandpa gave it to me."

"Let's have a dialogue about land curses. Does anyone know anything about them before we start our lecture today?" Professor Kamara asked.

Daphne shot up her hand in the air.

"Always the most enthusiastic. While I appreciate your zeal for academics, Ms. Poisonwood, I would like to hear another voice in the class. Anyone? Is there anyone at all? I would happily take a guess. You might be surprised how much you already know."

Leon's friend on the train raised her hand.

"Sable?" Professor Kamara pointed.

"A land curse allows the caster to mold the soil and earth how they want it?" Sable shrugged.

"Correct, and this often adversely affects the ground it's on. Let's say you build a house on a pillar of rock that you created with a land curse. That rock pillar will deteriorate much faster from weathering than normal rock. Depending on how good the caster is, a rock pillar could last a year or a handful of years."

"Would that be arcane magic, then? Or is it elemental?" Sable followed up.

Professor Kamara pointed. "That's a good point. We don't know. It could be arcane, or it could be something elemental. These topics are discussed in both classes. But there's even more to it than that. Does anyone else know what a land curse can do?"

My heart sprinted in place, and I raised my hand as my mouth went dry.

"Yes, Mr. Magpie?" Professor Kamara said.

"Can they invade your mind with, uh, whispers?"

Stifled snickering spread like an epidemic in the room. Professor Kamara took a step closer to our desk.

"I wasn't expecting a guess like that. Have you had any experience?" Professor Kamara asked.

"No, not really. I just thought I heard something about that happening with land curses." I shrugged.

"Very well then. To be honest, you could be absolutely right." Professor Kamara strode back to the front of the class. "The thing is, we don't know much about land curses. There aren't many that are well-known or documented. The common one we see is destroyed soil, ruining the ability to plant crops for a full year."

The rest of the class flew by as Professor Kamara went down a rabbit hole of land curse history, having us perform a few readings from our text.

As we all stood up and gathered our belongings at the end, Leon slid the book back over to me.

"Thanks again," Leon said.

"Keep it if you'd like," I said.

"I have the book. Just didn't think he'd make us crack it out on the first day."

"Yeah, Attleton, the first day back was a breeze. I didn't know what to expect here, so I brought anything and everything."

"Well, you made the right move." Leon spun around and linked up with Sable and his other lanky friend, that sat next to him on the boat.

Edna and Daphne were approaching, but Bran sauntered up to me first. "So, how did you like your first Loxton class?"

"It was cool. I think it went rather well." I grinned.

"Excuse me, Rollie, but would you mind seeing me after classes today? I would like to have a chat with you about a few things," Professor Kamara said.

"Sure," I uttered as my friends witnessed the whole exchange. We stepped out of the classroom.

On our way to Arcane 2 with the Venomauses through the cozy palace corridors, Bran nudged me with his elbow. "You okay, Rollie? Why the long face?"

"Yeah, I think so." I sighed. "I'm bummed. Everything seemed to be going well, and now I feel like I'm in trouble again."

"I don't know about that. Professor Kamara didn't seem to be too upset with you."

"Well, I have a favor to ask you. Would you be willing, after classes are done for the day, of course, to wait outside the room, y' know, in case anything, uh..."

"Don't worry, Rollie, no need to explain. I'll be there." Bran patted my back.

"Thanks." I flashed a quick smile and pretended that the conversation didn't happen as we walked into Arcane 2 with Professor Pemble.